


Mommy Issues

by Andai



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Adora Probably Has PTSD, Adora Says Fuck, Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, Glimmer Was An Asshole (But She's Better Now), Glimmer's a Jackass, Instead of Whatever the Fuck They Did That Episode, Mermista Stays Out of It So They Can Fix Their Fucking Issues, Season 4 Spoilers, Spoilers for Season 4, Talking Like Adults
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-14
Updated: 2019-12-14
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:34:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21789883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Andai/pseuds/Andai
Summary: "Do you think I didn’t already know people were counting on me to fix everything?” Adora’s openly sobbing now. “Do you think I didn’t already lie awake at night, paralyzed with the knowledge that everything is riding on me? Do you think I didn’t also see Angella as a mother?” She’s trying to wipe away her tears, but new ones replace them just as fast. “Do you think I don’t see her every time I close my eyes, taking the sword from me - taking my duty from me - and sacrificing herself instead of letting me do it? Do you think I can ever forget the look in her eyes when she told me to take care of you, knowing she wouldn’t be around to do it herself?”OR;That one scene where Glimmer's a huge asshole and says some nasty stuff but instead of Mermista interrupting her and Adora, she stays out of it and the girls actually have a Conversation instead of being passive aggressive to each other!
Relationships: Adora & Glimmer (She-Ra)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 104





	Mommy Issues

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first SPOP fic! Saw that One Scene (TM) between Adora and Glimmer and was just. Hm. Nope. Don't Like That. Guess I'll Fix It. 
> 
> (Also: I can't remember if it's revealed that Light Hope yeeted Adora from her family and has a huge ass weapon to destroy the planet before or after this episode, so for the sake of Not Giving a Shit, let's say it was before.)

The door closed behind them, Mermista’s groans abruptly cut off as Adora and Glimmer found themselves alone in the hallway outside the bathroom. 

“Glimmer -” Adora tried, attempting to wrestle her frustration beneath her concern, only to be interrupted. 

“No, Adora!” Glimmer interrupted her, spinning on her heel and getting right in Adora’s face before backing down slightly as she continued. “I’m sick of it, of you always telling me what to do! Ever since I became the one giving orders you just can’t stand it, huh?!” Glimmer demanded, fuming. 

“What - _no!_ ” Adora defended, growing progressively more confused. “Where do you get that fr-”

“Just because you’re She-Ra,” Glimmer plowed on, “doesn’t mean you can just - just _order people_ -” 

“This has nothing to do with me being She-Ra! I’m not _ordering_ anyone, Glimmer, you’re pushing us _away_ -” Adora tried to interject, before Glimmer kept speaking as if she’d said nothing at all. 

“I am _Queen_ of Etheria,” Glimmer continued, “not-”

“And going rogue and _leaving!”_ Adora interrupted, realizing she wouldn’t get a word in edgewise if she didn’t create her own opening. “What are we supposed to do with that?!” She begged. “We’re trying our best-!”

“You think you can just - just _transform_ into She-Ra, and _hit things with your sword_ , and it’ll fix _everything!_ ” Glimmer protested, ignoring Adora completely as she began to pace back and forth across the sparkling floor. “Well, _guess what?_ ” She demanded, “It’s _not working!_ ”

“Why are you blaming this all on _me_ ?!” Adora demanded, angry tears starting to form behind her eyes as she watched her best friend - her first _real_ friend - accuse her of… what, exactly? Where was this _going?_

“It is _not_ my fault that Salineas fell!” Adora insisted. “The Horde manipulated _all_ of us!”

“But She-Ra was supposed to _save_ us!” Glimmer argued, and Adora felt her heart sink to her stomach as Glimmer verbalized the same guilt that keeps her up at night, the same fears that rattle inside Adora’s head every time she gets a moment of silence. “Instead,” Glimmer rambled, continuing to pace the floor and missing the stricken look on Adora’s face, “the Rebellion’s in a worse place than _ever_ since you showed up!”

“I’m trying my _best!_ ” Adora cried, “Why can’t you _see_ that?!” 

“Well, maybe your best isn’t good enough!” Glimmer shouted, spinning on her heel to face Adora. “If it was, my mother would _still be here!_ ” 

The few seconds of silence were deafening enough that the small sob that followed cut through it like a knife. 

“Adora,” Glimmer whispered, horror seeping into her voice. She took a small step towards her friend, reaching out and watching in despair as Adora took a small step back from it, shaking her head almost imperceptibly. “Adora, I’m sor-”

“No,” Adora breathed, voice hitching. “No, you don’t - you don’t get to _say_ that,” Adora bit out, shaking her head harder as a tear rolled down her face. 

“Adora-”

“ _No!_ ” Adora screamed, taking another step back from Glimmer, arms at her sides and legs spread as she began to shake with a mixture of rage and betrayal. “You weren’t _there!_ You can’t say I tried hard enough when I was the only person in that _world_ other than Scorpia who _tried_!”

Glimmer’s curiosity overtook her for a second - she’d only heard so much about the dream world. After they’d all come back, Adora hadn’t said much other than that Angella had been lost restoring the real world, and some passing remarks about how the dream world had come up with everyone’s ‘ideal’ life. Part of her had wondered whether her father was still alive in that world, but she’d never mustered up the courage to ask. 

“What do you mean?” She asked cautiously, taking a small step towards Adora, relieved when the other girl didn’t move away. 

“That world - it was so perfect, so _ideal_ that _no one_ wanted to acknowledge that everything was _wrong_ . I was still in the Horde - I was still best friends with Catra. We -” Adora motioned between her and Glimmer - “never _met_ . Bow was a _librarian_ , and your parents -” Adora and Glimmer both froze. 

“My… parents,” Glimmer murmured softly, materializing her father’s staff and inspecting it before absentmindedly sending it back to her room. “I… was with my parents.” 

“It wasn’t real,” Adora whispered back, her face full of anguish. 

“.... We were a family, weren’t we?” Glimmer sighed, not expecting an answer to the question - or rather, already knowing it. “And then Mom sacrificed herself, and now I’m alone.”

“You’re _not_ alone,” Adora insisted hoarsely. “You have me, and Bow, and Castaspella, and the rest of the Alliance-”

“But I don’t have my _parents_ , Adora,” Glimmer argued, the anger once more welling in her making her aim low. “Not that I could talk to _you_ about that-”

Adora slapped her across the face. 

“What the _hell_ ?!” Adora demanded, more tears spilling over and streaming down her face before dropping off her chin in near-silent _splat_ s against the crystal floor. 

“It’s _true!_ ” Glimmer cried as she raised a hand to her stinging cheek, digging in deeper despite every bit of her rational mind screaming at her to start backtracking, to apologize immediately. “It’s no wonder you’ve just kept going on like nothing’s different - I wouldn’t expect _you_ to know what it’s like to lose family!”

“I’m watching it happen right _now_!” Adora near-screamed in despair and frustration. 

Glimmer frowned. “What are you talking about-”

“ _You_ , you big dummy!” Adora yelled at her. “You’re _right_ , I’ve never _had_ family! You know _why_ ? Because Light Hope, who you’re so intent on _agreeing with_ about a weapon you know absolutely nothing about, _stole me from them_ as a _baby!_ ” Glimmer felt her eyes widen in horror. 

“W… what-” she started weakly, only to be cut off. 

“So maybe I never knew my biological family,” Adora continued, “but I thought I’d found a _real_ one! Twice, actually!

“Do you think the dream world wasn’t ideal for me, too?” Adora demanded, heaving. “Do you think it didn’t make me _happy_ , for all its faults? I might have been in the fucking _Horde_ , but I was with the people I considered my _family_ there! Kyle and Lonnie and Rogelio were like my cousins, and I can’t even remember the last time I saw them! Catra was more like my sister than my best friend, and I can’t even _count_ how many times she’s legitimately tried to _kill me_ now!” Adora laughed almost hysterically. “And - and _Shadow Weaver_ ! Do you have _any_ idea why I’ve been so worried that you and she have been growing close?”

 _Because you’re jealous she likes me better_ , whispers a nasty part of Glimmer’s mind that doesn’t get to voice itself over Adora’s continued rant. 

“Because she’s fucking _toxic_ , Glimmer!” Adora cried. “She manipulated Catra and I against each other time and time again - she managed to twist our minds against the other when we were growing up, when we were all each other had! Light Hope may have somehow stolen me from across the universe and put me in the middle of a literal hellhole, but when I managed to escape and find the Rebellion, I thought maybe things had _finally_ changed! Maybe I was _finally_ allowed to be happy with people who actually liked me for who I _was_ , and not what I could _do_ for them.

“But apparently, all She-Ra ever was to you was someone to _fix_ things,” Adora laughed bitterly, “someone to ‘ _swing a sword_ ’. Do you think I didn’t _already_ know people were counting on me to fix everything?” Adora’s openly sobbing now. “Do you think I didn’t _already_ lie awake at night, paralyzed with the knowledge that everything is riding on _me_ ? Do you think I didn’t _also_ see Angella as a mother?” She’s trying to wipe away her tears, but new ones replace them just as fast. “Do you think I don’t see her every time I close my eyes, taking the sword from me - taking my _duty_ from me - and sacrificing herself instead of letting me do it? _Do you think I can ever forget the look in her eyes when she told me to take care of you, knowing she wouldn’t be around to do it herself?_ ”

Glimmer’s started sobbing now, too, and manages to catch Adora as the other girl falls to the ground. They lower to their knees, breaths hitching as something sticks in Glimmer’s mind. 

“S-she… she took the sword… _from you_?” Glimmer questioned, dreading the realization that washes over her as Adora gives a small, miserable nod. “You - you were going to -”

“I was going to close the rift myself,” Adora admitted tiredly. “I felt - still do - it was _my_ job.”

 _She was going to sacrifice_ herself _,_ Glimmer realized in horror. “It was you or Mom,” she whispered without realizing it. “Either way, I would have lost one of you.”

Adora shrugged weakly, leaning forward to rest her forehead on Glimmer’s shoulder. “It seems like everyone I come to love leaves unless I can prove I’m _worth_ something to them. That’s why I wanted to close the rift. That’s why I’m so _terrified_ when you go off alone and leave me behind. That’s why I’m afraid of Shadow Weaver using you like she used me and Catra.” Glimmer felt the guilt wash over her in waves as Adora’s wrecked voice continued. 

“This isn’t She-Ra trying to order around the Queen of Etheria. This is Adora trying to protect Glimmer because we’re the closest thing we have left to family, and you’re my best friend in the world.” 

Glimmer finds herself at a loss for words, ashamed and exhausted. For lack of a better response, she teleports them to her room and magicks over a box of tissues for them to clean up with. 

“Thanks,” Adora mutters as she scrubs at her eyes, only to suddenly find her arms restricted by Glimmer hugging her tightly. 

“I’m so, so sorry, Adora,” Glimmer whispers miserably, burying her face in her friend’s shirt. “I’ve been such a jackass, and I never should have blamed what happened to Mom on you. I should have known you did everything you could, and that you were just… I don’t know, worried about me,” she apologized. 

Adora shuffled her arms out of Glimmer’s embrace to return the hug, humming in response. The two stayed that way for a few minutes, letting their hitching breaths and puffy eyes return to normal.

“I’m sorry, too,” Adora murmured after a while. Glimmer pulled back and raised an eyebrow in confusion - _what do_ you _have to be sorry for?_ \- before Adora continued. 

“You haven’t felt like I’ve been controlling for nothing. I _have_ been more of a control freak lately - I guess everything’s just changing so fast, I’m holding on to what I have tighter because I’m afraid,” Adora admitted. “I know you can handle yourself, and I know that I’m being too overbearing, but I’m still figuring out how to cope in ways that don’t include doing.... That. So,” she sighed, “I’m sorry, too. I’ll try to work on that.”

“Thanks,” Glimmer laughed a little, rubbing her eyes before they wandered to her father’s staff in the corner of her room. 

Adora followed her gaze and smiled sadly. “He and Angella seemed really happy,” she admitted softly. “In the dream world you were all so content. He must have really loved the both of you to make it into the dream world.”

Glimmer nodded thoughtfully, and the two leaned against each other in the fading light, peacefully coexisting in a level of understanding they’d missed the last few months.   
  


**Author's Note:**

> Mermista in the bath, minding her own business for once, hearing shouting outside the bathroom door:
> 
> _________  
> SSSIIIIIIIIIIIIISSS  
> SSS O O SSS o  
> SSS / SSS o  
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~o~
> 
> (I know the ending is abrupt and maybe a bit awkward but I can't bring myself to care right now, lol. Also! I love constructive criticism and reviews! Thanks for reading, and hope you enjoyed!)
> 
> [Come join the party on tumblr!](https://an-dai.tumblr.com/)


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